Cowboy's #2
at Herndon High School

Reviewed on April 16, 2021

Leah Blum
South Lakes High School
Submitted for publication to Cappies News

History repeats itself. Or rather, history mirrors itself. The general course of human life cycles again and again until the end of time. At the heart of Herndon High School's staged performance of Sam Shepard's "Cowboys #2", written in the 1960s as a response to "Waiting for Godot" and similar plays, was the existential and profound exploration of the cycle of life and death.

The play followed two men: Chet (portrayed by Jake Swery) and Stu (Jefferson Escobar Rivera) as they explored different questions pertaining to the existential and complex meaning of life. Ranging from the dangers of diabetes to the joy of breakfast, the questions and situations posed to the two characters accompanied them on their journey through the circle of human life. Also onstage throughout the show were two men resembling Chet and Stu, played by Kobe Rivas Galdamez and Yaliek Miranda respectively. These additional characters completed the multi-dimensional scenes as they played on the stage, sometimes mirroring the characters in the scene, sometimes adding acoustic sound effects to establish the setting, and occasionally staying still and quiet to allow the focus of the scene to be solely on Chet and Stu. In a beautiful ending, the cycle of life was completed, the two sets of men switched places, and began the cycle anew.

The heart of the play lay in Swery's Chet and Rivera's Stu as they built a strong stage presence and two perfectly complementary characters. Rivera quickly established a high-energy, chaotic and slightly somber at times, Stu. Swery characterized Chet well as his character began to come to the forefront of the play; a charismatic, quick to distract, and optimistic (sometimes darkly so) leader. Both actors displayed excellent physicality, removing the need to rely on dialogue alone to understand the progression of the story. In the abstract view of this existential play, Chet symbolized the naivete of life, and Stu the complementary unpredictability of death. The unsung heroes of the show were Miranda and Galdamez's men in the background. The energy of the play was constantly high with the inclusion of these characters, and they provided interesting perspectives on the discussions taking place. Miranda consistently met Rivera's energy and added to it, creating another dimension within the mirrored Stu, a darker, truer depiction of the element of death within the play. Galdamez thrived when creating sound effects live onstage with barrels, a guitar, and sometimes just his feet. Through these sound effects, some scenes were made much more immersive.

The props of the play completed the minimalist wooden set to create a flexible setting in which many different situations could be represented. A guitar could become a rifle in a Cowboy scenario, a hat could be used to carry water as if it were the wild west. The costumes coordinated well, so that Chet and Stu were distinct, but complementary, and the doppelgangers in the background resembled them in costume as well. The lighting, managed by Meena Megahed, added tones of yellow to the not-quite fully lit stage, further establishing the western environment of the play. Isabelle Hollenbeck as an acting coach assisted in the creation of the complex characters onstage. Altogether, the immersive and thought-provoking play was striking and clear.

"Cowboys #2" provided an interesting and approachable take on existentialist theatre. Throughout the ever-changing narrative of the play, the characters and their perspectives were relatable and the overall story remained clear. Overall, Herndon High School's production was beautifully translated onto the modern stage. The overall message of the show does not take much experience with existentialist philosophy to understand: History repeats itself.

Grace Chen
H-B Woodlawn Secondary Program
Submitted for publication to Cappies News 2

In the desert, two cowboys sit back-to-back near a construction site in the most classic Western way possible, singing a tune. They wait. In reality, they are just passing the time and hoping to evade the decay of human existence by playing at being cowboys and reliving classic Western story archetypes such as stumbling around, desperate for water in the arid, arid desert, and engaging in battles with Native Americans. Little did they know that by fully embodying the spirits of these Wild West men and being absorbed into the desert world, they would actually achieve their initial goal: to live and thrive on their own terms, and die on their own as well. This was Herndon High School's Cowboys #2. Written in 1967, Sam Shepard's Cowboy's #2 was inspired by the likes of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot and Jean-Paul Sartre's No Exit, which was reflected in the themes of existentialism, survival, and the concept of brotherhood.

As Chet (Jake Swery) and Stu (Jefferson Escobar Rivera) traversed their way through the desert, every shift in the conversation was punctuated by a distinct physical action, such as Stu (Jefferson Escobar Rivera) dropping to the ground and giving Chet (Jake Swery) twenty, or the pair falling to the ground to roll around and rejoice in mud, their temporary salvation from death. Their movements, jarring and energetic, primal growls, and parallel blocking to the two men, played by Yaliek Miranda and Kobe Rivas Galdamez, carried the brunt of the story. With the brilliant costuming choice to use bandanas to match Miranda's (Man #1) red bandana to Rivera's (Stu) red and Galdamez's (Man #2) blue bandana to Swery's (Chet) blue, it was evident that on top of embodying the sounds and environment that Chet and Stu had created for themselves, they were the spirits of the two cowboys respectively.

The minimal two benches and two barrels which also cleverly served as storage bins for the men's guitars and weapons, along with the dim, yellow lighting set the stage for the imaginary but structured, barren desert. By overturning the benches and disturbing and ultimately destroying the beautiful and simplistic illusion, Chet and Stu attempted to hold on for dear life. Stu's zest for living and desire to stay optimistic, when directly contrasted to Chet's cynicism was heartbreaking as Stu was the one who fell victim first to the at-first believed to be imaginary Comanche arrow. As the vultures closed in on Chet, and Stu tried to fend them off, we realized what they had already come to know in the study of existentialism: a death on one's own terms is better than a life on everyone else's terms.

Through the howls of living, Herndon High School presented a story of human existence worth watching and re-watching to understand the utter rawness of simply being.

Ethan Edds
H-B Woodlawn Secondary Program
Submitted for publication to FCPS Community News

You could almost feel the heat as the lights came up on four worn and weary gentlemen, seated on benches with only their hats to cool them down. Two solemn guitars were joined by four voices, and the men sang and played a bittersweet melody to set the tone for Herndon High School's production of Sam Shepard's Cowboys #2.

The audience was introduced to Chet and Stu with some small talk about the rain, which for them could easily be synonymous with salvation. "It's going to rain. You think so?" says Stu, hopeful. Chet, played by Jake Swery, and Stu, played by Jefferson Escobar Rivera, were two lost men distracting themselves from life by pretending to be cowboys. They donned boots, vests, hats, and most cleverly, bandanas over their faces. Herndon theatre program aptly demonstrated their ability to embrace the obstacles of 2021 into their performance of a late 60s, which spoke to their creative problem-solving skills.

Swery and Escobar Rivera switched from their true selves to their cowboy identities by fixing their hats, hunching over, and putting on hilarious horse-rider accents. "Well, well, well. I'll tell ya boy, I'll tell ya, they's some dark ones, well, they's some reeeeally dark ones" croaked Swery to Escobar Rivera, hopeful that the dark clouds in the distance indicated cool rainfall. As the pretenders admired the clouds and sorted out who got to say which cowboy lines, supporting actors Kobe Rivas Galdamez and Yaliek Miranda echoed their movements, and brought the franticness of their actions to light. Galdamez and Miranda also provided sound effects, drumming their fingers on set pieces to imitate rainfall, slapping their knees like horse's hooves on the ground, or making bird calls to illustrate Stu's stories.

The minimalist set and warm lighting said everything about not only the physical emptiness of the location, but also the characters' isolation. Two benches and barrels offered an anchor for the players, but the actors weren't afraid to use the floor space, whether lying down on it, pacing and searching it, or flying above it.

Escobar Rivera and Swery's characters spoke on many of the troublesome parts of life. Whether analyzing if Escobar Rivera has diabetes, looking for the Big Dipper, or talking about cooped-up chickens in the context of their own social and economic enclosure, their chemistry was apparent and their delivery was that of men truly worn out by the plagues of their past.

In a heated battle against imaginary foes, Swery wittingly used his guitar as a gun, but Escobar Rivera is struck by a Comanche Arrow. As Escobar Rivera's cowboy alias dies, he stops moving as well. Upon realizing this, Swery endearingly puts on his signature cowboy posture and accent to wake him up. As Swery protects Escobar Rivera's body from vultures, played by Miranda and Rivas Galdamez, the audience could hear the helplessness in his voice and saw his effort drain until he too collapsed. As they lay there, Rivas Galdamez and Miranda sang a battle ballad with sorrow to carry out the show. "It's going to rain. You think so?" said Miranda to Rivas Galdamez before the lights faded.

At one point in their story the rain finally came, and Swery and Escobar Rivera danced around and fell to the floor to roll in the mud. "Marry me, Mud" says Escobar Rivera. But, like much of the play, it's never clear if it really was rain, or just a desperate hallucination. Although quite the enigmatic play, Herndon delivered an insightful and moving production of Cowboys #2, bringing out the truth in make-believe and leaving us all hoping for a little rain.

Zoe Koperna
South Lakes High School
Submitted for publication to Patch (Fairfax/Alexandria)

Yee-haw? A fun game of Cowboys and Indians leads to the metaphor of breakfast being the sweetest at the beginning of the day, just like life. Herndon High School's production of Cowboys #2, written by Sam Shepard, brings to light the perceptions of brotherhood between Chet and Stu, and the juxtaposition of life and death with the use of two men continuously shadowing Chet and Stu. The show highlights a unique take on the topic of philosophical existentialism. Shepard wrote Cowboys #2 in the 1960s with drawn inspiration from Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot and Jean-Paul Sartre's No Exit, both shows written by existentialist playwrights.

Chet (Jake Swery), throughout the production, made references to life and what to appreciate, all while his imagination caught up to him. Swery brought the energy that sucked the audience into his shoes. Stu (Jefferson Escobar Rivera) was an Avant-garde perception, and Rivera was able to portray the harsh realities of Stu's life brilliantly. The "Man" ensemble (Yaliek Miranda and Kobe Rivas Galdamez) was versatile with their shadowing of Chet and Stu, as well as the man-produced sound effects that communicated the plot efficiently.

Stage Manager Meena Megahed utilized the tool of lighting to easily convey the feeling of being in the wild, wild west desert with a yellow hue, fully splashed across the black box. The cowboy costumes of Chet, Stu, and the Men were consistent, clear, and complimented the plot wonderfully. The blue and red bandanas used as masks provided a trademark tribute to cowboys, and the brown, white, yellow, and black color scheme was minimalistic, making the character feel more down to earth.

Herndon High School's production of Cowboys #2 evokes the audience to think about outward perceptions that drag them towards the matter of life and death. The idea that the cycle of life may be never-ending sways the audience into the intimate fantasies and realities of Chet and Stu, and how the Men represent the consistency and reliability of understanding the eagerness to fulfill your life.

Kylie Coggins
Tuscarora High School
Submitted for publication to Connection

Life can be so short, but when you're a cowboy it can feel like forever. As the curtain comes up and the lights are turned on our main characters, Chet and Stu begin to sing and play an interesting tune on the guitar. Jake Swery who played as lead role Chet used the character as a representation of life and optimism, but with life there is always death. Jefferson Escobar Rivera who played Stu, showed that life is very short and death is always around the corner.

Both men used multiple techniques to keep their watchers entertained and always hooked. Throughout the entire story, Chet and Stu stayed in their comedic roles and always kept a mid-western accent which was barely ever dropped. Ensemble actors, Yaliek Miranda and Kobe Rivas Galdamez gave the show life by creating sounds and scenes with only their bodies. Both Yaliek and Kobe showed a very important part of the plot by switching sides with Chet and Stu representing the circle of life. The entire plot was very interesting as it showed how they resembled life and death and that the circle of life would go on no matter what. Each actor did an amazing job with their roles and gave off crazy and wild vibes to the character.


With their chaotic and wild story, stage manager, Meena Megahed used creative lighting by giving off a desert and mid-western setting. She also did a phenomenal job of lighting the stage to show day and night with only an orange-colored light. To the director who brought the whole show together, Mr. Scott Pafumi was very clever using each of the props and showed the symbolism in each prop. His set choice was very extraordinary with a small four person cast by using a small blackout space and mid-western objects like wooden barrels and stools to bring his set design together. The costume choices were very interesting because it seemed like the director was trying to symbolize the costume colors which brought more questions and kept the audience hooked.

Herndon High School theatre department has pulled together a wild show straight from the west. With the doppelganger ensemble and the chaotic leads, this in-person show was outstanding and was definitely worth watching for its plot and comedic cast.

Isabella Russo
H-B Woodlawn Secondary Program
Submitted for publication to Fairfax County Times

In the Old Wild West, how quickly can a fantasy game of Cowboys turn into a real battle for survival? Cowboys #2 at Herndon High School teaches us this through a heart-wrenching story of endurance, friendship, and desperation.

In one of the first works of his playwriting career, Sam Shepard produced Cowboys, an earlier version of Cowboys #2, in 1964. After some focusing of the original script, Cowboys #2 was produced in 1967 at the Off-Off-Broadway La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club. Although the play touched on the controversial topic of existentialism, the production was met with generally positive reactions from critics and theatregoers looking for something fresh.

Cowboys #2 is a one-act play by Sam Shepard that follows Chet (Jake Swery) and Stu (Jefferson Escobar Rivera) as they pretend to be cowboys. They rolled through the mud, discussed diabetes at length, and fought off surrounding animals, all while building a brotherhood together. Cowboys #2 touched on the strain of pure survival, while showing the connections that can be formed from such an intense experience.

As Man 1 and Man 2, Yaliek Miranda and Kobe Rivas Galdamez were able to quickly switch between being looming vultures or an eerie mirror image of Chet and Stu, showing their versatility as actors. With moments of complete stillness and others of frantic movement, Miranda and Rivas Galdamez set the scene for the main pair without the use of extensive props or recorded sounds, which brought the modest set to life.

Jake Swery lit up the stage as Chet with a vibrantly charismatic persona each time he spoke, while still maintaining moments of subtlety throughout to create a nuanced characterization. As the only speaking actor for the final section of the piece, Swery clearly proved his ability to hold space and drive the story forward without another actor to bounce off.

With a simple set consisting of two barrels and two benches, Herndon's technical team (Meena Megahed and Isabelle Hollenbeck) were able to let the set change with the story, as different items were removed from the barrels to create new environments throughout. In addition to the minimalistic set, all sounds such as rain, horse noises, and live music were made directly onstage by Yaliek Miranda and Kobe Rivas Galdamez-- an effective way to make the sounds themselves a character in the show.

Despite the challenges of performing without an audience, the cast and crew of Herndon High School's Cowboys #2 shared a poignant message about the struggles of pure survival, as well as the importance of finding a brotherhood.

Mary Kate Ganley
McLean High School
Submitted for publication to The Stinger

Bandanas, barrels, and bizarreness-- that is what defined the cowboys. Or it did to at least these cowboys in Herndon High School! Cowboys #2 is a look into the absurd ideas of life, death, and reality, as well as a humorous look into what makes people who they are.

Created by Sam Shepard, Cowboys #2 is an inverted look at life, as well as the bond two people can share. Shephard, who was known in New York for working with off-off-Broadway theatre that he felt could better complete his ideas for his shows, showed a love for the introspective, absurd, and comedic. Wholly inspired by other classic plays such as Waiting for Godot and No Exit, Shepard leaned into the more bizarre parts of his own mind with ease. Cowboys #2 revolved around Chet and Stu, two men who are cowboys in their own eyes and few others, as they try to navigate the ever-cyclical process of life and death, as well as the consequences of each, all while maintaining Shepard's usual brand of comedy.

With a small cast and big acting choices, this 4-person performance created a feeling of intimacy. With Chet, played by Jake Swery, and Stu, played by Jefferson Escobar Rivera, that feeling of closeness was palpable. As the only two named characters in the performance, Swery and Rivera worked together with preciseness not hindered by the small space nor COVID precautions that were taking place during the performance. Utilizing every inch of the Blackbox that they had to work with, all characters moved with accuracy.

Though not named, crucial cast members of Yaliek Miranda and Kobe Rivas Galdamez, playing Man #1 and Man #2 respectively, took up their task of mirroring, countering, and juxtaposing Swery's and Rivera's acting choices with a detached focus. The space they created between themselves and the other duo aided in allowing for the comparisons to be drawn and the show to come together in a sensible way.

A small stage with minimal space for props leaves a lot up to the imagination, and to the tech crews to fill in the gaps. With little by way of the set except for two benches and two barrels, each piece was used to great success. The brilliance of using the already present barrels to store props in, such as the guitar that was so pervasive and intertwined with the start of the show, as well as being used by actors as just another part of the backdrop. The blocking and pacing of the show were done with elegance and the sound quality remained consistent, even in the online format. The little that was on stage, including props and actors, were all used to capture the empty yet rich essence of the show.

Whether it's No Place for Old Men or not, the era of cowboys is over, but it never kept people from pretending it wasn't. Death is fickle, but life is too. The ideas of the intertwining of the two, coupled with some timely humor and introspection, make Herndon High Schools' performance of Cowboys #2 win the #1 spot. When you have to leave the mortal earth, it reminds you to simply Blaze Away.

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